UFC President Dana White today revealed that at a recent meeting with the heavyweight champ, Dos Santos informed him that he would prefer to face former Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem rather than Velasquez.

“I sat down with Junior Dos Santos yesterday – who is the nicest guy in the world,” White said. “He’s the nicest guy in the world, but he said, ‘I have nothing but respect for Cain Velasquez. I like him as a person and as a fighter, and I think he deserves the shot at the title. But I do not want to fight him,’ which is not what he said a month ago.

“He said, ‘Alistair Overeem is a punk. He’s got a big mouth, and he’s been saying lots of bad things about me, and I want to knock him out. I want to knock him out now.'”

Overeem, of course, is currently on the sidelines until at least Dec. 27 after an April NSAC ruling forced him out of a planned championship fight with Dos Santos.The fight was scratched when Overeem tested for a 14-to-1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio, more than twice the 6-to-1 ratio allowed by the NSAC.

In July, Overeem told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Dos Santos was afraid to fight him but would eventually be knocked out when the two finally clashed.

“He can talk all he wants,” Overeem said. “I know he’s very happy that fight didn’t happen, and I know he’s afraid to fight me. He also knows that I’m the biggest threat out there to him. He knows when he fights me, there’s no escape from it.

“He’s going to hit and run, or he’s going to go down. Either way, he’s going to leave that octagon a loser.”

Dos Santos apparently heard the talk, and now he wants to make the fight happen sooner rather than later.

White said Dos Santos track record with the company demands the promotion at least consider the request.

“He’s my heavyweight champion who is one of those guys who has done everything we’ve ever asked of him,” White said. “He really has never asked much of us. So when a guy like him comes to me and wants something, yeah, I have to consider it.”

Of course, there is the small matter of Velasquez, who lost the belt to Dos Santos in November 2011. He was told a win over Antonio Silva at this past May’s UFC 146 event would earn him another shot at the belt, and Velasquez delivered with an emphatic first-round TKO win.

Velasquez is also considered a company man who has long been at the leading edge of the promotion’s Latin American marketing efforts. White hasn’t spoke with Velasquez yet, but he does agree it wouldn’t be an easy conversation. That said, White said the champion’s desires may ultimately take precedent.

“I’ve got to talk to Cain, and I agree, Cain is (a company man), too,” White said. “But Cain’s not the champ right now. Junior is.

“I’m not saying that’s what’s happening. I’m just saying to you that’s what [Dos Santos] is saying. He wants this fight.”

A date for the proposed Dos Santos vs. Velasquez fight had not yet been announced by the promotion.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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